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Patrick: Ex-Mass. ed official violated no rules

BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Deval Patrick says former commissioner of early education Sherri Killins did not violate any rules by participating in an outside training program or living in Connecticut.

Killins stepped down earlier this week amid questions about whether her participation in a school superintendent training program was taking significant time away from her nearly $200,000-a-year state job.

Patrick said during an appearance Thursday on WGBH-FM that a review by his administration found that Killins was using vacation time and other time-off entitlements to complete the program, which required 300 hours of field work.

Patrick said he would have preferred that Killins lived in Massachusetts, but there was no rule requiring her to do so.

He also defended the administration's decision to allow Killins to remain on as a consultant for two months at her state salary.